


Demon in Mourning

by Starra



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Cemetery, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mentions of Ash Lynx/Eiji Okumura, Past Character Death, Post-Canon, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-17 23:32:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16983912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starra/pseuds/Starra
Summary: On the two-year anniversary of Ash's death, Yut Lung visits his grave for the first time. While he's there, he encounters Max and his family, who have also come to pay their respects. According to Max, Yut Lung doesn't have any right to be there.





	Demon in Mourning

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly because I feel like Max would forever resent Yut Lung. Also I don't know if we ever actually got a date of death for Ash so uh sorry if we did.

The air was cold and crisp, despite it already being well after noon. It was a still day and a light mist hung low, coating most of New York. It hadn't been this cold two years ago, surely. Maybe everything had just felt colder since then.

Yut Lung made his way slowly across the grass, looking for his destination. He had a vague idea of where it was -- where _he_ was -- but he was unfamiliar with the layout. After all, he had no reason to be spending any amount of time walking around cemeteries.

There was a part of him that felt like he shouldn't be doing this. That he should head back. But that part was thwarted by the part of him that wanted closure. Closure that he'd never really been granted permission to experience before. Hopefully he would be this time.

Eventually he found the grave. The headstone had been well-kept and someone had already laid flowers in front of it. Yut Lung knew without knowing who the flowers would be from. They were even wrapped in light green paper. _Subtle_ , he thought.

He forced himself to read the inscription on the headstone:

_Here lies_

_Aslan Jade Callenreese_

  _8.12.1968 - x.xx.1987_

 

_A beautiful wild beast that was tamed too soon. May he eternally rest in peace._

 

Yut Lung felt a lump form in his throat. So he really was... dead. Of course, Yut Lung had known that all along. He'd never once doubted the news. Not that time. He still remembered the shock when Sing came to tell him. Yut Lung, however, had never once cried about it. That wasn't his business.

He stood there for a while, unsure of how he should feel. Should he be angry? Upset? Guilty? Feelings weren't something Yut Lung liked to dwell on, as he always regretted when he did. This time, though, he felt like he was obligated to.

Maybe he should have brought an offering. Some more flowers, perhaps. He had no idea what Ash's favourite things were, other than Eiji. Did he even _have_ things he liked? Probably. Everyone did, after all. Yut Lung just wasn't sure what they would be.

Yut Lung was brought out of his trance by an angry voice that pierced through the otherwise silent, damp atmosphere.

 "What the fuck are _you_ doing here, cocksucker?" Cocksucker. How mature. Yut Lung looked over to his right and saw someone he recognised: Max Lobo, a reporter who he had met on several occasions who had been close to Ash. Max was accompanied by a woman who was holding a small bouquet of flowers (his wife, Yut Lung assumed) and a young boy, who was probably their son. Max looked furious, the other two just confused.

 

"Am I not allowed to be here?" Yut Lung asked, fighting to keep his voice stable (and quiet). Max walked over to Yut Lung, his hands balled into fists.

"You _know_ you're not," Max seethed. "You have no right to be anywhere near him."

"Max, calm down," the woman said firmly, making her way over. The boy followed behind her.

"Calm down? You expect me to be calm, Jessica?" Max turned to face her, now visibly shaking. "It's his fault! He's the one who--"

"Max." Jessica said in a harsh tone that took even Yut Lung aback. "While I agree with you, this isn't the place nor the time to be getting into an argument with him. He's just here to pay his respects, like we are."

"Respects? HAH!" Max laughed loudly. "This fucker never respected Ash in the first place!"

That wasn't quite true. Yut Lung _had_ respected Ash, which is why he had seen him as a rival to begin with. But Yut Lung knew better than to bring that up as it would only enrage Max even more. And, as Jessica had said, this wasn't the place for an argument.

"I was merely confirming that he was here," Yut Lung said. "As I was not permitted to attend his funeral, I've never seen any proof that he was no longer alive."

"Oh for fuck's sake," Max groaned. "You knew he was dead. You just came here to defile his grave or something."

"I didn't, as it happens," Yut Lung replied. "All I wanted to know was that he's truly at rest. And it seems that he is."

"You--" Max lunged forward and punched Yut Lung really hard on the cheek. Yut Lung almost fell over from the force, but he managed to steady himself. When he looked back at Max, he saw that Jessica was holding him back and their son seemed visibly frightened.

"Dad, you shouldn't be hurting people!" The boy whimpered.

"Don't worry about it, Michael," Max breathed scathingly. "He's... he's not a person. No. He's a monster. A demon." Michael didn't seem to understand Max's words. Jessica let go of Max and held Michael close to her.

"You're right there," Yut Lung said. "And I'm disappointed. Just one punch?"

"What?" Max asked.

"I thought you'd want to beat the shit out of me. It would only be a partial payback, but as you said, things _are_ my fault. I'm the one who created this grave, even if it was indirectly. No... it was pretty direct, wasn't it?" He paused and took a deep breath. "But we really shouldn't be fighting here. Ash will probably get annoyed with us, if he isn't already..."

Max glared at Yut Lung. "If I ever see you anywhere near here again," he said, "I _will_ beat the shit out of you. I'll do that even if I see you on the other side of New York. Watch yourself, motherfucker."

"Thanks for the warning," Yut Lung replied with a smirk. "But if this one punch is anything to go by, I have nothing to worry about. My brothers could punch better than you."

"I was holding back," Max said with a humph. "You won't be so lucky if I happen to see your stupid face again."

"Got it," Yut Lung said. "I'll be off then." He paused. "Oh, and Max?"

"...The fuck do you want?" Max readied his fist again, but Jessica was quick to restrain him.

"You probably shouldn't be using words like cocksucker in front of your son. They might be a bit difficult to explain to him." Max and Jessica both looked horrified at Yut Lung, who just laughed.

He said nothing else as he quickly walked away from Ash's grave. Once he was a good distance away, he turned around and looked back. Max and his family were still there, putting the flowers in front of the headstone. Max was kneeling down, probably crying. He couldn't make out if the others were crying too.

_Farewell, Ash._

 

Yut Lung continued on his way out of the cemetery. Max was right, after all. He had no right to be there. He'd deserved that punch. No, he'd deserved much more than just a punch. Yut Lung knew that he wouldn't be forgiven no matter what he did, and he knew he also could never be punished enough.

Once Yut Lung was back in his car (after his servant got into a panic about his swollen cheek, which Yut Lung had to insist was fine), he was overwhelmed by the sudden urge to cry. He wasn't one for crying. Yut Lung tried to ignore it by convincing himself that it was from the pain of Max's fist.

At some point later that night, while Yut Lung was lying in bed, he realised the name of the emotion he was feeling. Why he was so exhausted and empty. Why he hadn't actually been able to bring himself to cry, despite wanting to for hours.

He was relieved. Relieved that Ash Lynx was finally free. That he was no longer wallowing in a bottomless pool of darkness and self-hatred. Wherever he was, he didn't have to worry about anything. The inscription on the headstone had been a lie. The wild beast had escaped its cage and was now wandering the endless sanctuary of the afterlife. Yut Lung silently hoped, although he didn't want to admit it, that one day he'd be allowed the privilege of being free as well. Wishing for such a thing was selfish, and Yut Lung knew that, but if Ash had been granted eternal peace... maybe eventually Yut Lung would be as well.


End file.
